Recent content by Saltybones

Does anyone know of a good quick release? I've been through a few over the years and they all seem to rust out and turn to crap. I sail in salt water, but do rinse my boat well, the problem just keeps repeating itself. And then there is the dissimilar metal problems with the brass. I need...

If you want to mate the round surface with the flat cleat...wrap sand paper around the mast and sand the plastic cleat to this contour until it matches the curve. Self taping screws work great. They are quick and easy. All the force is in shear so you don't really need anything else. Seal...

It's not rocket science anything will work to hold the main sheet sag up. Forget the Velcro, cheap is best. Personally I race with two fat zipties that sort of slid between two sail ties.

The old ones, when the cheeks were metal where metal where oriented one way and the new ones with plastic cheeks are oriented the other way. It doesn't make a bit of difference as far as I can tell, and it can be fairly easily switched if you have a preference and patients to work with cerclips

The biggest thing that is going to affect your point is the gooseneck. Just like you would without the jens, try to find a balance between point and weather helm by moving the gooseneck. Forward for more point, back for less helm. Your ability to keep the boat flat is also critical in this...

I use binder covers to shim my masts. Not the thin plastic binders, but thick ones, like the kind that technical manuals come in; Ones in the neighborhood of 2mm or 1/16 -1/8 inch. I cut them exactly to size so there is no overlap and no gap. This way they stay in the boat. Whatever you do...

I've used self tapping screws on two of mine. Three years and no problems.

Sunfish65 I believe there are really old booms that did not use straps. A single eye-bolt was used with a nut on the backside and the blocks attached to the eye. If you don't have any of those parts, I would start over using one of the methods discussed on this thread.

If you want to be class legal, stick with the Racelite blocks. I would use the swiveling ones for both the fore and aft blocks. If you are a rec sailor, use whatever you like. When you go to replace them you will run across the issue of how to secure new blocks, bolting, through bolting...

Here are a few things you should be sure to do down wind. -pop loose your outhaul and cunningham when rounding the windward mark. Get your sail full and and powered up. -Heal the boat to windward. As Wayne said this neutralizes weather helm, thus reducing drag on the rudder. By healing, the...

Funny story...I use to have a Kool cigarette snark. It wasnt at all like this boat.

I never knew of this change. I have noticed that the bailer on my 87 sits against the bottom of the boat, while the ones on my newer boats do not. There's a small gap between the bailer and the bottom of the on the trailing edge that i can't seem to get rid of. Anyone else experience this?

A couple of things. I have always used three zip ties on the spring when mounting it. This really works great and is easy. On the fly i have tried to go without the zipties. Forget about that. As far as covering the blocks for travel...Use a koozie. Keeps your block clean when you're...

But....this is sunfish sailing not America's Cup. Take of the bolts and use the spars. If they ever break you can worry about it then. Also, corrosion compounds the problem, so keeping the spars clean and dry will help persevere them.

OO structural analysis. Perhaps rotating the spar 90deg on its axis would help. This would bring the distance from the neutral fiber (y) down to zero in that plane. I believe more more bending moment is developed on the top (C) and bottom (T) than the sides of the spars. Vanging down...